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Thursday, March 19, 2015

Health News: Peanuts ward off some foodborne illnesses ♦ MDR for vitamin D was miscalculated ♦ Detecting adverse reactions to medications using social media + more

Peanuts may help to ward off some foodborne illnesses Eating the skinless inner kernels of peanuts may improve a person’s gut flora and its ability to ward off E. coli and Salmonella, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland published in the Journal of Food Science. The findings suggest that skinless peanuts could be a beneficial promoter of gut bacteria that will Continue Reading

Recommendation for vitamin D intake was miscalculated, is far too low Researchers are challenging the intake of vitamin D recommended by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine saying their Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin D underestimates the need by a factor of ten. Continue Reading

Erectile dysfunction drug relieves nerve damage in diabetic mice New animal studies found that sildenafil, a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction, may be effective in relieving painful and potentially life-threatening nerve damage in men Continue Reading

New system for detecting adverse effects of medications using social media A new system for detecting adverse effects of pharmaceutical drugs tracks information generated by patients on specialized blogs or social networks such as Twitter in real time. The researchers explain that online health information searches are the third most popular activity in Google, with 170,000 searches performed every 5 seconds. "There is a lot of user-generated information these days, so social networks can be a valuable source of information on adverse effects of pharmaceutical drugs Continue Reading